Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the 1999-2000 annual report of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces Ombudsman.

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-489, an act to amend the Access to Information Act (cabinet confidences).

Mr. Speaker, in June 1999 the government used the provision for total exclusion of cabinet confidences under section 69 of the Access to Information Act to keep 172 pages of gun registry budget information a state secret.

In September the government used the cabinet confidences exclusion again to hide from the public a 115 page report on the economic impact of the gun registry. That was enough for me and I knew the law had to be changed.

The purpose of this bill is to make certain amendments to the act as recommended by the information commissioner in his 1996 report, The Access to Information Act and the Cabinet Confidences: A Discussion of New Approaches. The information commissioner was kind enough to recommend changes to an earlier draft of this bill.

This bill makes cabinet confidences mandatory exemptions as opposed to exclusions. This results in the withholding of information and documents that are considered cabinet confidences being subject to the independent review under the act, rather than the entire act being inapplicable to them. The bill also excludes from the exemption documents that refer to but do not reveal the substance of cabinet confidences.

Among other safeguards, this bill would require that requests for cabinet confidences be handled only by officers who have received the appropriate security clearance.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure today to rise in the House and present over 600 signatures from my community of Dartmouth.

The people of Dartmouth are concerned that the Liberals have ignored the top priority of Canadians in the 2000 budget by giving only 2% for health care, and that the federal government is now only paying 13.5% of the health care costs leading to shortages of nurses, hospital beds and emergency spaces in our hospitals.

The people of Dartmouth want to see an immediate injection of federal money back into our health care system bringing it up to 25% of funding immediately, and also, to implement home care programs and a national program for prescription drugs. They want to stop for profit hospitals and federal funding restored for health care.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am tabling in the House today a petition signed by 5,400 constituents in the riding of Charlevoix.

Given that the proposed change to the limits of the economic region for employment insurance purposes in the federal riding of Charlevoix would have dreadful consequences for the affected population, and that this proposal does not follow the employment insurance regulations on the homogeneity of the work market and the bordering regions, the petitioners call on the Parliament to maintain the status quo, so that the riding of Charlevoix can still be part of the former administrative region of northern Quebec.

The first one deals with the predatory pricing of gasoline. The petitioners are from Beauport, Quebec City, Sainte-Émilie, Saint-Émile, Sainte-Foy, Charlesbourg, Saint-Lambert and Victoriaville.

Since Canadians consumers cannot take action and protect themselves against increases in gasoline prices, the petitioners are calling on parliament to pass a resolution to stop world oil cartels in order to bring down excessive prices of crude oil.

The second petition is from the region of Fleurimont, Sherbrooke, Lac-Racine, Saint-Denis-de-Brompton, Saint-Pamphile and Saint-Marcel. The petitioners call on the House of Commons to find a solution and to pass a resolution to stop world oil cartels in order to bring down excessive prices of crude oil to counter the predatory pricing of gasoline in Quebec and in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table a petition signed by constituents from the riding of Shefford who are asking the government to quickly introduce and implement legislation that would make the labeling of GMOs and foods containing GMOs mandatory in all cases.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table in the House today a petition from constituents of my riding of Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert.

The petitioners call on parliament to allocate sufficient funds to research into alternative energy sources so that, in the near future, Canadians would no longer be forced to turn to oil as a main energy source.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present this petition on behalf of some 30 citizens of the riding of Champlain, asking parliament to enact a legislation making mandatory the labeling of all food products which are genetically modified in whole or in part.

I take this opportunity to underline the excellent work of our colleague, the member for Louis-Hébert, on the issue of GMOs.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions signed by hundreds of constituents and people from all over Manitoba. They are very concerned about the state of our health care system and the lack of action on the part of the Liberal government to address the crisis that has now befallen our universal public health care system.

The sentiments of the petitioners were given some validity yesterday with the results of the byelection in Alberta where voters overwhelmingly said yes to the NDP and no to bill 11. The petitions that I table today say the same thing, that we should stop the cutbacks to health care, stand up against bill 11, save the Canadian public health care system, and stop the slide toward a two tier American style health care system in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to submit the following petition, signed by 381 citizens from Quebec, in particular from the riding of Verchères—Les-Patriotes, which I have the honour and the pleasure to represent in this House.

The petitioners point out first that it is impossible for consumers to protect themselves against the dizzying increases in the price of gasoline at the pump. They also point out that they are a captive clientele for oil products, since no alternative source of energy is presently available at a reasonable price.

Therefore, the petitioners urge parliament, as a first step, to pass a resolution to put an end to the actions of world petroleum cartels and, as a consequence, bring down the excessive prices of gasoline.

Finally, the petitioners ask parliament to invest sufficient money in research on alternative sources of energy, so that consumers will no be longer dependent on oil as their main source of energy.

Mr. Speaker, in the same vein, I would like to table a petition signed by hundreds of Quebecers asking that Parliament take action in order to counter excessive gas pricing.

Among other things, those Quebecers ask that adequate funding be allocated to research into alternative energy sources so that, in the near future, Canadians are no longer forced to turn to oil as a main energy source.

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present which was sent to me by people in Brandon, Manitoba, and a few folks in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. They ask the House to abolish the unelected Senate.

They say that the Senate is undemocratic, unelected, not accountable, costs Canadian taxpayers around $50 million per year, and undermines the authority of members of parliament. Therefore they ask us to begin the process of abolishing the Senate. Of course that is supported by my friend, the Liberal member from New Brunswick.